Reclaimed Wood End Table – Rubbed Black Finish

Reclaimed wood in a Rubbed Black finish. Reclaimed means the timber had a previous life, so it arrives with nail holes, saw marks and weathering already in it, and a rubbed finish is applied to settle into those marks rather than to level them out.

Rubbing a finish back is the opposite of building one up. Color goes on and is then worked off the high points, so it stays down in the grain and in every existing dent, which increases the contrast across the surface instead of covering it. On reclaimed stock that is the only sensible approach, since a smooth uniform coating over an irregular board would look wrong from the first glance. Old timber is also drier and more dimensionally settled than new stock.

One reclaimed piece in a room of new furniture reads as intentional. A whole room of them reads as a theme, which is usually less successful.

• Material: Reclaimed wood
• Finish: Rubbed Black